I just caught this from Little Willow and a story in Mail Online by Liz Thomas in the UK. Unbelievable!
"A disabled CBeebies presenter has been the victim of a disturbing campaign after parents complained that she was scaring toddlers.
They claimed that host Cerrie Burnell - who was born with one arm - is not suitable to appear on the digital children's channel.
...Incredibly, one father said he wanted to ban his daughter from watching the channel because he feared it would give her nightmares."
The article goes on to say that Cerrie has replied: "It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk about disability with their children."
Michael Carrington, controller of CBeebies, said: "Cerrie is warm and natural and we think that in time all mums and dads and children will love her as much as we do."
readertotz gives a shout out to Cerrie Burnell for withstanding the prejudice and continuing to do an excellent job!
9 comments:
I caught this article thanks to aquafortis.
I really hope the channel backs her up and keeps her on the air.
I really hope people teach their children to be open-minded and accepting - and that the parents, themselves, practice what they preach, and show the kids that beauty is everywhere, in everyone, and that there's no such thing as 'normal.'
Honestly? This is leaving me speechless. I agree with Little Willow. Let's hope the channel keeps her on the air!
Wow, Lorie Ann. And thanks, Little Willow!
No, I'm not remotely surprised. Many of us are still so fearful of anything other than us - sometimes it's naive, sometimes it's cruel.
But in a nutshell, I think many of our societies are headed in the direction of openness - as we speak up - and so I have hope.
I'm kinda speechless, too. Think it's a case of parents revealing their prejudices, because I think this is more "their" issue than an issue for their kids.
wow- can't believe this! someone needs to send those parents a copy of "North of Beautiful" !
Wow. This is pretty unbelievable.
My goodness, we do a lot in the name of our children!
My uncle is handicapped, and I've seen how children react to him - with a pure desire to learn and understand. It is the parents who stifle this, the parents who don't know how to act.
This show sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the input, ladies!
Completely boggles the mind how utterly ignorant some people still are.
This father had better just pray he is never in an accident that results in his losing a limb, becoming disfigured in any way or ending up paralized. Will he insist his daughter be removed from the house then?
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